10 Answers

Not sure if this is too late-but thought I would offer an alternative suggestion. The same thing happened to my playbook, according to a friend who works for RIM they had to recall a bunch of them for a very simple problem.

Take a look at the charging port inside the playbook, the piece inside needs to be level. You need to use a small metal object to make the piece level in the center.

This worked for me. The trick is to always keep the blackberry symbol facing upwards, if it is put down, it ruins the alignment of the piece again!

My BB tablet is dead an not turning on, when eva i plug in my charger i see the red led light 4 abt 10-15 sec then it turns off i a yellow ish green ish light blick 5 time and than nothing happens after that.... Am frustrated rite nw

OMG it worked. after two days of trying everything. that metal piece in the usb port was misaligned. and, I was plugging the cord in upside down. I delicately centered the metal piece with a pin. this has restored my faith in BB

OHMYFREAKINGOD!! So my playbook has been sitting dead for a year or more and I have been meaning to have it fixed but it seemed $100 fix was way too much so I just hid it under my bed until tonight when just out of the blue I decided to try and find a solution online and come across this page! At first I didn't get the full instruction but I was beginning to feel jealous that everyone is saying thank you and that their Pb has resurrected from the dead and so I got up and slowly step by step followed your advice and read all the comments and VIOLA! My PB was charging again!!! Omg! Thank.you sooo much! And thanks to your friend for sharing the trick and thanks everyone for sharing as well! Woo hoo!!

Thank you Soooo much dear! your support has helped me charge at least 2 playbooks which were laying around useless for over a year, I think I have around 2 or 3 more which could be saved as well, thanks again and wishing you all the best =)

Thank you so much Alison 55, your remark about the charger being symbol side up did it for me after giving up a year ago, decided to bravely try again, it was me putting the charger in upside down as it would not easily go in the right way :) :)

You just saved me from a depression. Tried just about everything to revive my playbook and accidently i came across this thread. You made me a very happy person. Thanks for sharing this. Im sure this is a common issue with the Playbook.

I have a rapid charger and a regular USB charger. I let my Playbook get so low, it wouldn't turn on or charge. Since the charging system is software controlled, the playbook can get so low the software won't run to charge it. I had to "stack" charge it, which means putting the charger on for 10-15 seconds, taking it off, putting it right back on for 10-15 seconds, taking it off, and repeating this process about 50-100 times. The charger will charge for about 10-15 seconds before it shuts down because the Playbook software isn't taking over the charging process. Until the playbook gets enough charge to run the charging circuit, it won't take a prolonged charge. By repeating this process of "stacking" all of these little charges together, you are able to build up enough charger for the Playbook to run the charging circuit software to fully charge itself.

Another time, I let my Playbook get too low and hooked it up to my desktop and was told I needed to download some software to use it. I said "ok" and it began downloading the software which would take about an hour. The problem was the USB connection to the desktop would not provide enough power to run the Playbook in order to download the software AND charge the playbook at the same time. The playbook would just run out of power and shut down in the middle of the process. I had to hook up the rapid charger and the USB cable to do this; and it worked fine.

Both of these problems are very common because a lot of people leave their Playbook on "stand by" for too long and they drain down too low. The charging circuit is software controlled and if the Playbook gets too low there is not enough power to run the software to allow the Playbook to charge itself. The charging circuit allows for a 10-15 second charge so that the charging software can engage and then stops assuming the software has taken over the charging process. When the Playbook is completely dead, this can't happen, hence the "stacking" trick. It's a pain in the butt, but it works.

to viswanath, look on the side of the playbook at the charger port, no need to take it apart, use a magnifier if needed check the middle bar in the port is straight not bent.....if it is bent gently level it with a flat thin narrow blade ie metal nail file....when you put the micro charger lead in make sure the blackberry "symbol" on the plastic head of it is facing up..... it will not charge it the other way as I found out the hard way.......hope that helps...

Working under a lighted magnifier, I used a thin but rigid plastic probe on a Playbook's USB port to very gently push the connector down a little. Then I checked that the connector on the USB charger could align with the adjusted connector on the Playbook, and that a connection could be made. When I was sure, I plugged in the USB charger unit to an electric outlet and it started charging up right away. You can also charge the Playbook by using the Blackberry Rapid Charger that connects to the 3 pin charging port that is to the right of the USB port on the Playbook. However if you want to connect the Playbook to a computer you need to fix the USB connector on the Playbook in any case.

I suggest using a plastic probe. See my post above. If the playbook will not turn on, try a new charger -- perhaps one that a friend has. You may need to wait 10-15 minutes to see signs of charging if the battery is totally exhausted. So plug in with your charger first, wait 20 minutes and see...patience pays. If that does not work try a friend's charger. In all cases be extremely gentle, don't try to ram the connector home with all your strength.

If that does not work, the USB connector on the Playbook may be physically fdamaged enough to require replacement. That is a major disassembly and desoldering/resoldering operation. Before doing it, you need to find out the part number for the replacement USB connector.

I suggest buying the Blackberry Rapid Charger for the Playbook an connecting that to the 3 charging dots just to make sure the Playbook can charge. If the Rapid Charger works, then you might have a damaged USB port or a bad charger.

Charging mine with the rapid charger and BlackBerry sign facing up right as I read all lol but it could also be the rapid charger like it is for me. This holding everything upside down works for me cause I saw on the part where it connects (the three prongs ) to the playbook, one (the middle one ) Is lower than the other ones saw a video on YouTube can't find it now or I would post it but said the spring gave out and that why it doesn't stay up but if you hold it upside down it falls down to the same level as the other two and whala it can now charge thanks hope this can help someone else.

My battery had got too low, so having the same start / recharge issues. Tried all the tricks except opening the device, but then happened upon a Nokia charger (5V 550mA) that must be just that little bit stronger than the standard USB charger. Popped that on and went straight to the desired flashing light that indicated initial charging. Shortly thereafter up popped the start screen and we are now happily charging up the battery with no need to reload or lose anything. Big sigh of relief.

Tried using a nail file to level the pins. Tried turning it on and off every few seconds or so. Tried using both the usb port charger and the Blackberry rapid charger. Must have done something right as it is now charging. The tablet belongs to a friend of my daughters and she is lost without it, so happy to get it going again for her. Will tell her not to let the battery get that low again. Thanks for all the awesome suggestions.

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